The 1937 crown is Australia's third pre-decimal commemorative coin, struck and issued to mark the coronation of King George VI in 1937, an event celebrated right through the British Commonwealth.

It is far more than just another commemorative coin however- the story behind it is uniquely Australian.

The Commonwealth Government had originally planned to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VIII on (January 20th 1936) with the release of a five shilling coin, however as this denomination had not been issued in Australia before, the Coinage Act of 1909 had to be...

From the safety and security of the 21st century, it is incredibly difficult for us to appreciate just how challenging daily life was for Australians living in Melbourne in 1942. The Japanese armed forces were slowly making their way throughout South East Asia towards Australia, while living conditions reflected the grim sacrifices being made by Australia’s service personnel in the Middle East and against the Japanese.

Although the Melbourne Mint struck around 31 million coins throughout 1942, the mintage of the 1942 Melbourne threepence is amongst the lowest of any Australian coin struck for circulation in the past 80 years. In mint condition, it is a classic rarity and is the key coin to acquire in Australia's King George VI series.

The 2017 Annual Year Book for the Australasian Coin & Banknote Magazine contained a great deal of interesting information for Australian numismatists, however the one article that really caught my eye was that written by Fred Lever on the 1930 penny.

It contained a range of fresh research, built on the shoulders of the work done by Bill Mullett several decades earlier.

Bill Mullett was a former employee of the Melbourne and Royal Australian Mints, after he retired he spent some years researching and writing about the history of the Melbourne Mint, as well as a number of the coins it produced. His three publications are titled:

The first coins for the Commonwealth of Australia in 1910 were struck at the Royal Mint in London.

Although significant quantities of silver had been discovered in Broken Hill in the 1880’s, and although the colonial governments of New South Wales and Victoria had been agitating for the Australian branch mints to strike an Australian national coinage for some years, it was an established practice that the coinage for all British colonies (outside India) was struck by the Royal Mint in London. Maintaining this practice was not without challenges...

“The constant aim of producing a "good" coin was usually brought closer by varying a process in an experimental way. Experimentation was a long tradition of The Royal Mint, London and its branches.[1]”

The 1931 Dropped 1 Indian penny is widely agreed to be one of Australia’s rarest pennies, however it is a coin that the average collector and the general public know little about - a reasonable level of numismatic knowledge is required to identify and appreciate it.

This compelling coin shares a great deal of history with the glamour rarity that preceded it in 1930 - research unequivocally shows that both coins are the result of practical efforts by Melbourne Mint staff during downtime in the Great Depression aimed at improving productivity...

The 1927 Canberra florin is Australia’s first commemorative coin - enough of them remain available today to confirm that no Australian was to miss out on their own memento from the opening of the building that was Australia’s democratic heart. It remains everyman’s coin, a poignant link to an era when Australians were aware of their nation’s move to political independence.

Although this incredibly important Australian coin has appeared at auction twice in the past 18 months, in my opinion collectors don’t yet fully appreciate just how historically important and rare it is.

This coin is in fact an archival-standard strike of Australia’s very first penny - it is one of only 2 known in private hands, and was struck for the express purpose of officially recording the start of the production of Australia’s first Commonwealth pennies.

It is important for a number of reasons - not only is it one the very first Australian pennies ever struck, it also showed for the first...

The Great Depression ensured the rarity of many coins & banknotes issued at the time - as the graph on this page shows, economic activity was so limited during the Depression that the number of coins minted in 1932 was just 6% of that produced in 1927.

The rarity of the 1932 florin is directly linked to “the worst year of the Depression”.

We have extensive experience in handling all Australian gold soveriegns and halves, from the Adelaide Pounds of 1852 right through to the last coins of George V of 1931.

All of the Australian gold coins in our online shop are described in detail, and are depicted by high resolution images showing each side. Our listings are also often accompanied by background information to the coin's history.

At Sterling & Currency, we specialize in handling Australian coins dating from our nation's settlement in 1788 through to the introduction of decimal currency in 1966.

We have an extensive range in our online store of Australian gold, copper and silver coins - we're committed to offering our customers coins that are attractive for their grade and priced according to the current market.

The Australian proof and UNC coins struck by the Perth Mint and the RAM are the most accessible coins available to collectors today.

Our online stock doesn't reflect all of the decimal coins that we handle on a regular basis, much less the stock we have access to, so if you're not able to find a particular coin that you're keen to add to your collection, let us know and we'll be happy to contact you when it becomes available.